MANILA, Philippines (AP) – The Philippine president has fired his former ambassador to Brazil after she was seen in a video that physically abused a Filipino member of her domestic staff.
President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday night he had approved a recommendation to fire Marichu Mauro, revoked her retirement benefits and disqualified her from public office for life. The ruling comes as Duterte launches a campaign against official abuse and corruption in his final full year.
Mauro was recalled from Brazil in October after the video, which was allegedly taken from the security cameras in the ambassador’s residence in Brasilia and shown by a Brazilian news agency, showed a woman attacking someone who was apparently a housekeeper.
The Foreign Ministry in Manila said at the time that the unidentified victim had returned to the Philippines and that he was trying to reach her amid an investigation.
Mauro did not publicly comment on the allegations.
Duterte, whose term of six years ends next year, read the names of government officials and officials involved in the transplant and corruption in his TV appearance to highlight his campaign against abuse and irregularities.
But Duterte, a former state prosecutor who threatened drug suspects with death and is known for his outbursts charged with explosive activities, has himself been criticized for abusive behavior. In his televised remarks Monday night, Duterte voiced Vice President Leni Robredo for criticizing the government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak and vaccination campaign.
“It looks like you have an angelic face but a demonic mind,” Duterte said, calling Robredo’s attitude ‘idiot’.
Duterte said Robredo’s reminder that health workers need to be treated well said: ‘You can die, but I’ll never give up the frontliners, and you do not have to be really redundant.’
Presidents and vice presidents are elected separately in the Philippines, leading to candidates from rival parties such as Duterte and Robredo ending up in the country’s best leadership and often clashing with policies.
Robredo was a leading critic of Duterte’s bloody anti-drug repression, which killed thousands of mostly poor suspects and led to mass murder charges before the International Criminal Court.
Duterte threatened speeches on straying government workers to slap and humiliate them. In a televised speech last week, he suggested hitting the hands of drug addicts with a hammer to teach them a lesson.
If I tell the secretary ‘leave us alone’, you will be struck. “I humiliate people, especially those who steal money from the government,” Duterte said on Monday.
Human rights lawyer Chel Diokno said the public humiliation of civil servants and officials being prosecuted for grafting and corruption by reading their names on TV in a disgraceful campaign violates their right to a presumption of innocence, due process and fair trial. Victims of Duterte’s tongues could sue him for defamation if he loses his immunity from legal action after his presidency.
“It’s really inappropriate and it’s ironic that he’s a lawyer and that he should know better,” Diokno said.